BILLERICA -- Shannon Curley was getting blocked; defenders were stripping the ball from her under the hoop.

But the struggle was nothing like what the 12-year-old's gone through since 2012.

Like fighting back against cancer, the Billerica seventh-grader wouldn't give up after getting stymied for 12 minutes on the court. With four minutes left in the half, Shannon grabbed a rebound off a teammate's missed free throw and made a layup as the packed house erupted in joy.

It was her first points since beating leukemia last year.

"This has been a long 14 months, and a year ago, I never thought we'd see her on the court," said her father, Chris Curley. "Every day has been a fight to get better. This is a great night for us."

For more on this story, read Saturday's edition of The Sun and visit www.lowellsun.com.